Patricia McGinnis is currently serving as an Advisor to the Obama White House on leadership programs for Presidential Appointees.She is the former President and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government, where she created and led a number of innovative programs to improve the performance of government, during her 14 year tenure.

Before joining to the Council, Ms. McGinnis was a Co-Founder and Principal of the FMR Group, a public affairs consulting firm in Washington, D.C., where she concentrated on education, energy, and communications policy. In government, she served in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where she led the effort to create the Department of Education.

Ms. McGinnis serves on numerous committees and boards, including the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Council of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Board of Visitors at the UMD School Of Public Policy. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a member of the Steering Committee of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at GW University, and serves on the Center for the Study of the Presidency’s National Council of Advisors.